Critical Hit
by RunsWithScizors
Summary: Dawn never wanted a journey, but Barry said otherwise. Now she's stuck with a Pokedex, a boy, and a promise to Professor Rowan she almost didn't make at all. But someone needs to save the world, and unfortunately, she and Lucas seem to be the only ones who can. (Platinum version. Now with cover)
1. Stupid, Stupid Barry

**Not Always Black and White, Shades of Gray, and One-Hit KO. These stories were written to make Pokémon games funny. But then the writers added another game to the pile: Platinum version. And so, Critical Hit was born! Using the powers of friendship and dumb jokes, Dawn, Lucas and Barry must try to stop Team Galactic before their evil plans succeed.**

**Now that the intro is out of the way, I'd like to make an announcement. The editor/other writer is the one who owns Platinum, so she got to pick the chapter titles. I might regret that later, but it's too late now.**

"...These are the words of the wise Professor Rowan."

"Professor Rowan, huh?" Dawn asked the air as she shut the TV off. "Can't say for sure what I think about him. I like his mustache, though."

She adjusted her hat and glanced at her reflection in the mirror, smiling when she noticed that not a single hair was out of place. You could never be too presentable in these times, especially when you planned to actually go out in public that day. Dawn had woken up that morning wanting cookies, and since she'd saved up her allowance for the past two months, she might as well use it to get a box of pre-made cookies from the grocery store down the street. Buttoning her coat over her dress, she started for the door, only to be ambushed by her friend Barry before she reached it.

Barry had declared Dawn his best friend only days after he moved here six years ago. Her feelings for him hadn't been the same at the time, leaning more toward annoyance and a little bit of amusement. He was just so troublesome, always running headfirst into things, while Dawn thought things through before deciding it was too much work for her and ended up taking a nap instead.

Neither had changed much, but both had changed just enough so Dawn was comfortable calling Barry her best friend, too.

"Dawn!" Barry called, bouncing around. "You're not properly dressed for this! Go put on some pants and let's get going!"

"I'm a girl," Dawn reminded him, brushing dirt off her coat. "You know, a human female? I need clothes, but I don't necessarily need pants."

Barry, distracted by the phrase, coughed into his hand to fight back laughter before remembering what he'd come in for. "There's more than that, Dawn! Meet me at Professor Rowan's lab! No questions asked, and a 10 million fine if you're late!"

And he was gone, leaving his confused and hungry friend behind in her bedroom, her long hair ruffling in the breeze he'd kicked up on his way out.

She would later curse Barry for dragging her away from her content lifestyle, but at the moment, she decided to humor her friend. After all, he might end up getting himself killed, so he should at least die happy.

* * *

><p>"So, you saw that thing on TV with Professor Rowan, right?"<p>

This was said before, but it could always use repeating: Barry was hyper, blond, always eager for adventure, and constantly in Dawn's face. It came as no surprise to her that this was his version of a greeting. That said, she took a moment to remind herself why she was friends with him before she answered.

"Yes, I did. Your point?"

Barry ignored her tone, being just as used to her. "Haven't you ever wondered what having a Pokémon would be like?"

"Not really."

Barry glared, his bright orange eyes locking on to her deep blue ones. "You are coming with me to ask Rowan for a Pokémon, and that is final!"

"Why?"

"Because I'll fine you if you don't!"

Dawn closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, slowly counting to three, just as her mother had taught her. "Barry, you fine me for everything. If either of us took that threat seriously, I'd already be paying you all of my allowance and money from whatever job I end up getting until we turned to dust in our graves. What makes you think I'm going to follow you this time?"

But when she opened her eyes again, he was gone. Dawn sighed and headed off to Sandgem Town and Professor Rowan's lab, like he probably knew she would.

"Stupid Barry," she grumbled, kicking a rock and watching it roll away. "Stupid, stupid Barry."

* * *

><p>"My mom said we shouldn't go into the grass," Dawn said a few minutes later, backing up from where Barry stood. It hadn't been a lie, her mother had warned her about it. Of course, that had been when Dawn was six and more likely to get electrocuted by a Shinx, but it was good advice no matter what. Not all Pokémon were nice.<p>

Barry just groaned impatiently. "Dawn," he stated, in the same exasperated tone she usually used on him, "going through the grass is necessary to get to Rowan's lab. Besides, we're thirteen. Technically a teen. And teens aren't exactly known for obeying their parents' every order, are they?"

"Not on TV..." Dawn admitted, knowing as the words left her mouth that this was going to end badly.

"Then our moms won't expect us to be any better!" Barry cheered, and grabbed hold of Dawn's wrist. Her instincts hadn't let her down yet. "Ready, now? Let's go!"

"Hold it!" a loud, rough voice snapped, and Dawn immediately turned to dead weight. Finally, someone who seemed to have a speck of reasoning.

Barry stopped moving as soon as he started, falling over onto the ground and nearly taking Dawn with him. She backed away to keep him from looking up her skirt, before she turned to see who had spoken to them. It was an old man with a giant mustache and sharp eyes, and he towered over the young teens.

"You don't seem to have any Pokémon between you," he pointed out. "Why were you heading into the tall grass?"

Barry opened his mouth, but for once, Dawn beat him to it.

"It's all his fault, sir," she explained, pointing at Barry. "I was preparing to go to the grocery store like a good girl, when this _human tornado_ shows up and drags me along to go and ask..."

She trailed off as she realized just who she was speaking to. She really should have seen it sooner, as she'd been fascinated by that mustache since she was small. "Professor Rowan?" she mouthed weakly, and sunk to the ground. "That's a relief."

Professor Rowan turned his sharp eyes on Barry, who fidgeted a little under the harsh stare. But then Rowan turned away, and began talking to himself. Dawn caught a few words of it: "change," "Pokémon," "path," and other disconnected syllables she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to understand. Finally, he turned back to the pair of stupid kids.

"Do you love Pokémon?"

The two exchanged a look. "That's kind of why I dragged her out here," Barry said. "So we could ask Professor Rowan...uh, you, for a Pokémon."

Professor Rowan shook his head in shame. "I'm almost afraid of what would happen to Pokémon in your posession," he said, "but if it will keep you two out of trouble, I suppose I have no choice."

"What." Dawn couldn't even make the word into a question. It didn't make sense to her, though Barry seemed to be processing it. They'd nearly _died_, and the professor had openly admitted that he was afraid of what might happen, so now he was giving them Pokémon? "Professor, thanks for the offer, but I'd really prefer to go home."

"And what will you do if your friend here needs help with something important?"

"Leave him to die?" Actually, she'd probably call the police to help him out, but Barry didn't need to know that.

Barry tugged on her scarf just once. "You're the worst friend ever, do you know that?"

"I'm well aware."

Professor Rowan looked her over again. "Even so, I think you'll enjoy having a friend that doesn't drag you off on adventures against your will." Dawn refused to admit that he had a point, not in front of Barry anyway, but he seemed to know what she was trying not to say. "Now, where did I put it?"

"Professor!" a new voice called, and a boy appeared from the lake area, a briefcase in his left hand and his hat slipping off his head. "You forgot your briefcase at the lake!"

"Ah. So that's where it went. Thank you, Lucas."

Lucas adjusted his hat, before he noticed the other two. "Who are these people?"

"A pair of crazy kids who tried to endanger themselves for Pokémon."

Dawn, again, pointed at Barry. Lucas turned to the professor, alarmed.

"And you were just going to hand them over?" Lucas and Dawn were on the same wavelength, Barry noted. "Professor, I'm sure they're not criminals, but shouldn't we be prepared, just in case?"

"Would you rather have them die?" the professor questioned back. "Think, boy. What would that accomplish other than making a big mess of things?" Lucas clearly had nothing else to say to that. Rowan summoned all his patience an opened the briefcase, revealing the three red and white balls resting inside.

"You two," he said, holding it out to Dawn and Barry, "pick your first Pokémon."

"You go first, Dawn," Barry said, giving her a push forward that she assumed he meant to be gentle.

Dawn stared into the briefcase, staring at the dim outlines of the Pokémon through the red caps. She recognized all three shapes, but which one should she pick?

Should it be Chimchar, the adorable fire monkey? What about Turtwig, the cute little turtle with the magic grass powers? Or maybe, just maybe, Piplup the penguin?

Once she'd made her choice, and Barry his, Professor Rowan made them swear to never recklessly endanger themselves again and walked away, leaving Lucas to chase after him. Once Lucas was out of their sight, Dawn turned to head home, but felt someone's eyes on her. Turning back slowly, she groaned as she saw the look on her friend's face.

"Oh, Dawn..." he sang creepily, his new Pokémon's ball in his hand. "Are you ready?"

"Ready for what?" She knew, though. Oh, boy, did she know.

And Barry did not disappoint her. "It's time to battle! Go, Chimchar!"

Dawn sighed and reached for her new Pokémon's ball. "All right, Turtwig. Let's get this over with."

* * *

><p>That evening, Dawn and her new Turtwig were celebrating their victory over Barry and Chimchar with the cookies that she'd bought on the way home, while her mother wasn't even touching the one Dawn had given her.<p>

"You went into the tall grass?"

"No," Dawn said immediately, taking another bite of triple-chocolate cookie. "Barry almost did, but I stayed right where I was." She smiled innocently. "Besides, Professor Rowan caught us before anything bad happened. Don't worry so much."

"It's lucky that you two met the professor, then," her mother continued. "You should go and thank him for the Turtwig."

"All right," Dawn said, shoving the rest of the cookies in the cupboard. "I'll go tomorrow."

Beside her, Turtwig yawned his agreement.

Johanna, on the other hand, was much less relaxed about it. "Immediately, Dawn," she ordered, and her daughter pulled herself off the couch and put on her coat once more, before leading Turtwig out the door.

"Stupid Barry," Dawn said again, and started trudging her way through the town.


	2. Crazy Old Men and Unlikely Bribes

**How else would Dawn start her journey?**

Dawn and Turtwig took one step out of Twinleaf Town, and they found themselves ambushed by Barry once again. This time, he didn't challenge them to a battle. His Chimchar was still in its ball, which he now wore on his belt like the proud trainer he was, and he helpfully warned Dawn not to have her Pokémon out at all times, as it might be taken as an invitation for random trainers to battle her.

Then, finally, he came out and said what he really meant to say. "Did your mom kick you out to say thank you to Professor Rowan, too?" he asked, and Dawn rolled her eyes.

"I told her I'd do it tomorrow. Apparently, she didn't think that I was trustworthy enough."

Barry tried not to comment on that. Dawn was grateful. Then, finally, he spoke up again.

"Listen, Dawn, our battle earlier today..."

"Drop it," Dawn ordered, and Barry's face fell.

"But Chimchar lost!" he whined. "I deliberately picked the one with the type advantage, just so you'd have to catch more Pokémon to beat me!"

"Why on earth would I do that?" Dawn objected. "I never wanted a Pokémon from the professor in the first place! It was all you! I'm glad I have my Turtwig, but that doesn't mean I'm going to add to this collection."

"Well, I'm not saying you have to catch 'em all," Barry said, rolling his eyes. "That became impossible years ago. I'm just saying that maybe, since you have a Pokémon now, you could actually find and catch a..."

"This discussion is over, Barry," Dawn interrupted. "You will lead me to Sandgem Town, we will go to Rowan's lab, we will thank him for our Pokémon, and I will go home."

And, to cement her point, she crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air. Beside her, the Turtwig picked up a fallen twig with his mouth, and began to chew.

Barry didn't want to bother anymore. He knew she'd come around sooner or later.

* * *

><p>Barry did not lead her to Sandgem Town, either.<p>

He started to, but then he got an idea, shouted that he was turning around and heading to Lake Verity, added that he would fine her if she didn't come along, and took off in the opposite direction.

Dawn looked down at the grass turtle in her arms, clearly irritated with her friend. "You know," she said, watching him continue to chew his stick as if nothing else mattered, "there are times when I think I might actually be the one to end him someday."

The Turtwig stopped chewing, gave her a dirty look, and returned to his stick.

"I didn't mean now," Dawn grumped, and trudged along.

She found Barry waiting for her by the lake, but he was keeping his distance. One look, and Dawn knew why. There, standing right in front of the crashing waves, was a man with spiky blue hair and the most ridiculous outfit she had ever seen, and he seemed to be threatening the body of water with kidnapping.

"And I thought you were crazy," Dawn said, looking toward Barry uncertainly. "This guy surpasses you by millions of points. Congratulations."

"Shut up," Barry said, "I want to hear what he's saying."

Dawn rolled her eyes but turned her ears to the man. What he was saying was muffled, but she got enough to hear that he wasn't directing his rage at the lake, but at the Pokémon within it. Dawn didn't blame him, Magikarp were pretty useless. But even if he did want a Gyarados, why would he kidnap the Magikarp when he could just catch them? You didn't need to get a Pokémon from Professor Rowan to be a trainer.

But the man was done making his threats, and walked down the path to where the young teens were standing. "Excuse me," he said, politely but surprisingly lacking in emotion. And then he left the area.

There was a short pause. And then Dawn ended it.

"Are we going to Rowan's lab or what?"

"Huh?" Then Barry seemed to process what she was saying. "Oh, yeah, we were. Come on, let's race!"

* * *

><p>He beat her there, of course. He was even inside by the time she ended up at the front door.<p>

The other boy from before, Lucas if she remembered right, was waiting for her instead, a Piplup in his arms. "Professor Rowan was expecting you," he said before she even said hello. "Something about how now that he's given the three of us the main starter Pokémon, he's been wondering what to do with us."

"He gave them to us four hours ago," Dawn said. "He couldn't have been thinking that hard."

"I don't know," Lucas said, looking down at his penguin. "You weren't here with him like my dad and I were. I've never seen him talk to himself like that before."

"So it isn't a normal thing? He did it when he caught Barry trying to go through the tall grass without his Chimchar for protection."

Speaking of Barry, the other boy chose to make his appearance at that moment, announcing it by throwing open the door and smacking Lucas in the face with it.

"What was that?" Barry demanded, and turned to look at the injured young trainer. "Oh. Sorry, dude."

Lucas shook his head and wiped a bit of blood off his nose. "It's fine," he said, waving it away. "It happens a lot."

It certainly didn't look like he was used to it, but Dawn knew better than to mention it. Guys were ridiculously possessive of their 'tough' image, after all. She also figured that once she said thank-you to Professor Rowan, she would be completely safe. So, she turned to her friend and asked him if Rowan was in there.

"Yeah, he's there," Barry answered. "Did you think he'd died in the last four hours? Don't worry, he's actually pretty cool for an old guy. He even promised that I'd get to keep Chimchar."

"I'm not worried about him taking away my Turtwig," Dawn clarified. "I'm just worried about him not telling my mother that I thanked him."

"I'm pretty sure he'll do that, too." Barry glanced at his wrist, remembered that his watch had broken, and took off back to Twinleaf Town to tell his own mother that he was going on a journey and likely wouldn't be back any time soon.

Dawn simply took a deep, calming breath, and reached for the door handle.

* * *

><p>"Of course you can keep the Turtwig." Professor Rowan sounded like the mere suggestion he wanted it back was offensive. "There's no need to thank me. In fact, I was thinking that you and Lucas and that energetic friend of yours could be useful to me."<p>

Dawn looked down at Turtwig. Turtwig chewed on his stick. "What do you mean by help, Professor?" she asked uncertainly. "Do you mean do some grocery shopping for you when you get caught up in your research?"

Rowan considered the offer, but then changed his mind. "No, Dawn. Nothing like that. I was thinking of something that would be even more fun for you."

"Keeping the boys out of your hair with movie nights?" Dawn suggested, unable to keep the hopeful note from her voice. "Occasionally battling when one of them gets bored?"

"No, Dawn," Rowan said, almost as if he was starting to change his mind once again. "I was thinking about selecting children for the Pokedex adventure, and I figured that since the three of you have already gotten the optional starter Pokémon, you would be perfect for it."

Dawn groaned. She could say no, she knew that, but she also knew that Professor Rowan hadn't had a chosen Pokedex carrier refuse since her mother was a teenager. She wondered if it was even possible to refuse what the old man wanted.

She might as well try. "Thanks for the offer, Professor," she said, "and I really appreciate that you think I can handle this. But I've heard what happened in Kanto a few years ago, and I really don't think I can repeat it."

It was just as she feared. Professor Rowan didn't seem to take kindly to her refusal, and stared down at her with all the power his tall, intimidating self could manage. "I am a patient man, Dawn," he said, "and if this is truly what you want, then I will allow you to refuse. But what are the odds that a criminal mastermind is planning a takeover here in Sinnoh?"

"You're probably right," Dawn admitted. "I still don't want to risk it, though. I'm not the type to go after fame and fortune. I'm more of a sit-at-home girl."

Rowan paused for only a moment. Then his hand plunged into the pocket of his coat, and he looked at what he pulled out carefully. "I'll give you half a paperclip and a coupon for a box of cookies."

"Then I'll do it."

Dawn couldn't remember herself saying the words. In fact, she couldn't remember anything other than wondering how the professor had managed to get _half _of a paperclip. But she must have said it, for there was no other explanation as to why Professor Rowan handed her the device in question, as well as the objects he had pulled out of his pocket.

At least her question was answered: it was the _outer _half of the paperclip. She was more than a little disappointed that it wasn't the top or right half.

"You can give a name to your Turtwig, if you'd like," Rowan added, and Dawn looked down at the turtle, who was still munching away on his stick.

"Chowder," she decided. "He feels like a Chowder to me."

"Are you sure?" Rowan looked over at Lucas, who was talking to the lab assistant. "Lucas over there named his Piplup Leonardo."

"Like the Ninja Turtle? That's a bit too cliché for a Turtwig trainer. I'll stick with the original plan." Though, come to think of it, she did get a slight Donatello vibe from him. Well, if she found a Name Rater and was still unsure, she could change it. "I suppose I should go talk to my mom, though. I'll get a good picture of a Bidoof for the Pokedex!" she added, and rushed through the lab doors.

Rowan wondered briefly if he had made the right choice having Dawn take a Pokedex, but that wasn't important at the moment. The really important thing was to get the other Chosen One out the door.

"Lucas," he called, and the boy immediately excused himself from the conversation with his father to answer the professor's call. Rowan tried not to intimidate the poor kid. "You like to help out here, don't you?"

"Yes," Lucas answered immediately.

"But you're always wondering if you could do more?"

"What are you saying, Professor?"

"I'm saying I have a mission for you. A very important one, but one you are free to refuse." He held out a second Pokedex, and the boy's eyes lit up. "I want you to take this and explore the Sinnoh region."

"Of course I'll do it," Lucas said, still awestruck. "I didn't know you planned to choose me, Professor."

"You didn't? I thought I was being obvious about it." The light-hearted tone faded from Rowan's voice soon after. "There is a catch, however. There is another I chose, but it was a last-minute decision. I want you to keep an eye on her. You don't have to travel with her, but if you check up on her now and then..."


	3. Lucas the Lunatic

**STORY FROM BEHIND THE SCENES: This happened to the other writer. You'll see what I'm talking about.**

Dawn reached her home in Twinleaf Town without a problem, and currently sat at the kitchen counter, glaring at her mother in icy silence. For her part, Johanna tried to avoid her daughter's evil eye, and focused on packing a lunchbox with sandwiches for the road.

"I'm not going to say I told you so, Mom," Dawn said after a few more uncomfortable moments. "Keep in mind that it's only because I didn't say it in those exact words."

Her mother put the butter knife down on the counter with more force than necessary. "Dawn," she said in the way only parents can, "I know you're upset with me, but I had no influence on Professor Rowan's decision. Besides, a Pokedex journey could be good for you."

Dawn looked up defiantly. "Kanto," she said shortly. "Hoenn. Then there's the incident with Johto, the Slowpoke tails and all that. Sinnoh's probably next."

"And who stopped Team Rocket, Team Magma and Team Aqua?" When her daughter didn't reply, Johanna smiled. "That's right, kids sent on a Pokedex adventure by the local professors. If Sinnoh is in danger, I can only be proud of you if you bring peace back to the region."

"A boy named Lucas has a Pokedex, too," Dawn said, and perhaps she would have won the argument if it weren't for Barry's mom ringing the doorbell.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Johanna," she said immediately, "but Barry just threw open the door, yelled something about going on a journey, and took off without his Town Map."

"That Barry," Johanna sighed. Then she turned to her daughter. "Dawn, why don't you take Barry his Town Map? You don't have to consider it a Pokedex adventure if you don't want to."

"You're kicking me out?" Dawn gasped, and Johanna tapped her chin.

"Don't think of it as kicking you out," she said innocently. "Think of it as giving you a little push to your destiny."

"But Mom, I want to stay!"

Dawn knew it was a waste of breath, but she had to say it anyway. Just like Johanna knew it was a waste of breath to promise that all her daughter had to do was deliver a map to her friend.

They were both aware that it was only a matter of time before the journey started.

* * *

><p>"I'm glad you decided to take Rowan's bribe," Lucas said as he led his Pokedex partner to Route 202, seemingly paying no attention. "Something tells me we're going to get along, Dawn."<p>

"And something tells me that I'm going to want to ditch you at the first town," Dawn grumbled. Lucas pretended he didn't hear that, either.

"Do you know how to catch a Pokémon?" he asked instead, and Dawn flinched.

"I never exactly thought I'd need to," she pointed out. "I thought I'd only ever have one Pokémon, a gift from my mom. Or maybe Barry."

"But now you have your Turtwig and want to give him some friends, right?"

"I can be his friend!" Dawn protested. "I don't need a Pokedex to be a good trainer! The only Pokémon I really want to catch anyway is -"

But Lucas didn't find out what. A wild Bidoof had jumped out at him, and he had decided that this was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate to Dawn how to catch a Pokémon.

"First you track down a wild one," he said, "and then you use one of yours to battle it. Since I only have Leonardo, my choice should be obvious."

He reached for a Pokeball, and threw it without bothering to check. What came out was not a Piplup, as they had expected, but a Bidoof, which was exactly the kind of Pokémon that had jumped him. Dawn tried and failed to smother a giggle.

"And," Lucas continued, trying to ignore his confusion, "if you don't want to catch your opponent or defeat it for experience, you have the option to run away." He dug around in his bag and found a Poke-strudel. "Get out of here!" he shouted at the Bidoof, throwing the strudel as hard as he could. It vanished into the trees, and the Pokémon followed it. Passing Dawn five balls and telling her to "figure it out," he headed back to Professor Rowan's lab to exchange the Bidoof he carried for the Pokémon that was actually his.

Dawn looked at the red and white balls in her hands, then looked up toward a flock of Starly. She put the balls in her bag and reached for Chowder's as she stepped forward. Only one of the flock answered her challenge, and she released Chowder. He placed his stick on the ground and stood across from the bird, preparing to fight.

Dawn took a deep, calming breath. How hard could this be?

* * *

><p>Lucas wandered back to Route 202 with his Piplup following close behind him, looking angry at having been mixed up with a Bidoof, of all things. Lucas kept apologizing, worrying over whether or not his journey had ended before it begun, but Leonardo eventually made it clear that he was just messing with him. They found Dawn only a few steps further than where Lucas had left her, and she was scanning a Pokeball with her Pokedex.<p>

"I take it that you caught one?" Lucas asked, and Dawn instantly put the Pokedex away.

"I did," she said, "no thanks to you. How can one kid fail that badly, anyway?"

Leonardo opened and closed his beak irritably, but Lucas stopped him from attacking her by nudging him with his foot. "What kind of Pokémon is it?" Lucas asked instead, and Dawn glanced back down at the ball in her hand.

"Can I answer your question with another question?" she asked, and Lucas was caught off guard.

He decided it couldn't hurt. "You mean a question other than that one, right?"

"Don't get smart with me. I just wanted to know if the Starly species had gender differences."

"So you caught a Starly," Lucas said, clearly pleased when he noticed her resulting irritation. "They do, actually. The male has more white feathers on his forehead than the female."

Dawn glanced back at the ball in her hand. "So...males aren't supposed to be brown?" she asked innocently.

Lucas stopped thinking then, and gave Dawn a look that she had only seen on a Psyduck before. "Brown?" he repeated, and Dawn took a step back, knowing she probably didn't want to be in the same area as this boy.

"Brown," she confirmed. "Or tan. Whichever way you want to look at it. Do you want to see him?"

"Yes," Lucas said immediately. She had to be bluffing, playing a trick on him. No one had ever encountered something like this so early in the journey.

But, when she opened the ball, out came a Starly, just like she'd said. And, just like she'd said, the coloring was off, very different from the usual gray.

Lucas turned and bashed his head against the nearest tree. He'd just saw that some nobody from some small town caught a shiny Pokémon _on her first try._ And, from the look of it, completely oblivious to her incredible feat.

"Dawn," he said, feeling that the name was going to eventually become his catchphrase, "do you have any idea what this is?"

"A...Starly?" Dawn answered uncertainly, seeing nothing wrong with this picture.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Yes, Dawn, that's what it is, but do you know what it _is _is?"

"A _boy _Starly?" Dawn said, this time more hopeful.

"That's what it _is _is, I guess, but do you know what it **_is_**?"

Dawn rolled her eyes this time, and picked up her Pokedex again. "Starly is a Normal/Flying type Pokémon, a basic bird much like Pidgey, Hoothoot, Taillow, and to an extent Spearow. Gender differences exist but are unable to be detected if the trainer doesn't know what to look for, taking the form of the size of the patch of white on its face. This particular specimen happens to be a male, with Tackle as his only move." She put the Pokedex away to give him a Look. "Does that answer your question?"

Lucas returned her stare with all the emotionlessness he could manage. "You're just messing with me, aren't you?"

"Yes I am," Dawn agreed. "Come on, Lucas, a lot of trainers have shinies. I just didn't have to obsessively breed for mine."

"But you caught it on your first try!" Lucas complained. "You have to know how rare shiny Pokémon are."

"Isn't it around one in six hundred?"

"No, Dawn. Try one in _eight thousand and something_, on average." He gestured to the shiny in question, who flew off to perch on his new trainer's shoulder. "And you caught one on your first try, after only having your Turtwig for a few hours."

"Call it luck," Dawn said, attempting casual when Lucas noted her flipping her hair proudly. "If you want to study it, Lucas, just come with me. If Professor Rowan is really going to make me go on a journey, I need someone to make sure I don't slack off."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"It's either you come with me, or I'm using Rowan's cookie coupon and going home the second I give a package to Barry."

There was no further discussion.

* * *

><p>Johanna stared out the window of her house, irritation and sadness washing through her. Perhaps she should have taken Dawn's feelings into consideration. She could have delivered the package to Barry herself and left Dawn and Turtwig at home. They were already friends, and not everyone with a Pokémon used them for battles or contests.<p>

Of course, there wasn't enough assurance that the pair wouldn't eat all the food in the house, or invite a bunch of wild Pokémon and that Lucas kid and throw a massive party. It was for the best.

Was it? an annoying little voice asked her. Was it really worth kicking your daughter out of your home? Your barely-teenage daughter? Kids are supposed to say they hate their parents at this stage, but she might actually mean it.

"She never said she hated me," Johanna said out loud. Then, realizing no one was talking to her, she glanced down at the Pokeball resting on the kitchen counter, then turned to the Kangaskhan sleeping in the corner. The creature had been captured by Dawn's father, but she was given to his wife as a gift, and then assigned the duty to guard an infant Dawn. She'd never been in a Contest before.

Slowly, an idea started forming in Johanna's mind. It was risky, and it would be dangerous if she were to run into her daughter, or trouble with a potential criminal organization attempting to take control of the Sinnoh region.

On the other hand, it had been so long since Johanna had competed, and it wasn't like she'd even had a full conversation with Dawn about contests before. She didn't even have to be the embarrassing mom if they did run into each other.

Let the fun begin.


	4. The Useless Policeman

**In which Dawn and Lucas meet the Tenth Doctor. Kind of. Not really.**

Dawn had never been to Jubilife City before. After the day she and Lucas had there, she firmly intended to never go back.

It started shortly after they'd arrived. They'd been talking about Pokémon and life goals and Professor Rowan, as children tended to do, when they'd seen _him._ A strange man running between two lampposts, clearly trying to be inconspicuous but attracting more attention than anyone. Naturally, they agreed to ignore him.

And, naturally, this man singled them out from a crowd of dozens.

"Who goes there?"

A mere three seconds later, and Lucas found himself cornered, Dawn not faring much better. "Who are you?" Lucas asked the strange man, and the man pointed an accusing finger at him.

"I ask the questions here! Who do you work for?"

"I'm Dawn, he's Lucas," Dawn said quickly. "We're kids on a trainer journey."

The man immediately relaxed, and backed off. "I apologize for my behavior. Reports showed me that this town hid criminals."

"Criminals?"

"Allow me to introduce myself," he said, as the two waited in silence. "They call me Looker. I am a member of the International Police, and I am on the search for Team Galactic. You are not Team Galactic?"

"No, sir," Lucas said, not bothering to comment on the man's unusual speech pattern and nudging Dawn to keep her from doing it herself. "Like she said, we're just regular trainers. Professor Rowan chose us to be Sinnoh's Pokedex carriers this year."

Looker seemed impressed. "Pokedex carriers?" he repeated, and then he switched from 'impressed' to 'over-excited.' "Pokedex carriers are chosen by professors in case police need help saving the region! You two! Help me find Team Galactic!"

"I didn't even want a Pokedex," Dawn said. "I'm not going to help you on your weird quest, I'm just going to give my friend something from his mom."

"But this is a matter of grave importance!" Looker complained. "The whole world could be at stake!"

Dawn took a step back. "I'm pretty sure that's a _huge _exaggeration," she said slowly, clearly, as if speaking to a person with a mental disability. "I'm not going to help you with this. Good luck on your search, I'm going to head to the Trainer's School to see if I can find my friend."

And she turned around and walked in the opposite direction, not caring that she had no idea where her intended destination was.

Lucas and Looker waited until she was out of sight, and then Looker turned on the boy. "And you? Will you be my partner in this mission?"

"I already promised Professor Rowan that I'd keep an eye on Dawn," Lucas explained. "If she's not helping, I can't."

Looker didn't seem upset, merely disappointed. "I thought that Pokedex carriers were here to help," he said, "but I cannot interfere with what you and Dawn wish. It is early in your journey." He saluted briefly. "Goodbye, Lucas, and good luck."

"You, too," Lucas said, and watched as Looker turned and walked away.

Dawn reappeared moments after Looker left. "Lucas?" she said quietly. "I think I'm lost."

* * *

><p>The Pokémon Trainer's School was, in Lucas's mind, a very vague and mostly unimpressive building. Every child that grew up with a parent or sibling's Pokémon, even if the parent or sibling just kept it as a pet, knew what status conditions affected a Pokémon in battle, and those always seemed to be the ones that were being discussed when the chosen Pokedex carriers started off on their journey.<p>

Still, Dawn had to admit, it was at least a little useful. Though she'd still prefer to do her reading in the library she'd heard was in Canalave City, which was said to be the greatest library in all of Sinnoh, at least this one led her to Barry.

Barry had decided to leave as soon as Dawn and Lucas showed up, once again hitting Lucas in the face with the door. After complaining that Sinnoh really needed to ensure that all doors opened to the _inside_, he seemed fine, and Dawn managed to give Barry his package without much complaint.

"My mom sent this?" He turned the Town Map over in his hand. "She sent two, though. Here, Dawn, you and Lucas can take the other one."

"Are you sure?" Dawn asked, taking the second map from her friend. "What if she gave you two because she thought you'd lose one?"

"Hey, I don't need maps," Barry pointed out. He rapped on his head, which made a somewhat hollow sound. "My dad took me all around Sinnoh when I was little. I've memorized the entire region."

"Is that why you got lost on a visit to Sandgem Town once?" Dawn sounded so innocent, it reminded Lucas of when she'd been pretending not to know that her Starly was a shiny. So she was messing with Barry, then?

Apparently, her friend could still fall for it. "I didn't get lost the last time," he reminded her. "Come on, Dawn, you know me better than that."

"Sure, Barry. Whatever you say."

Barry aimed a fake punch at her, his fist stopping just inches from her face. "You're lucky I was taught to never hit a girl."

"And you have no idea how grateful I am for that," Dawn said quickly.

"But," Barry said, grinning malevolently, "I was never taught that I couldn't challenge a girl to a battle. So, Dawn, I challenge you to a battle for the right to make you eat those words!"

"And if I win?" Dawn asked, almost dreading what 'reward' she might be given.

"If you win, I promise to forgive the millions in debt that you've stacked up over the last six years."

And, with a short apology to Lucas, he took off down the street. Lucas watched Dawn pick up a few books off the shelf, sit down in the corner, and start reading. "Aren't those for the school kids?"

"I'm taking notes," Dawn answered from behind the book. "Don't even talk to me."

* * *

><p>Perhaps, if it was just Barry and Looker that Dawn had met in Jubilife City, she wouldn't have disliked it so much. If it weren't for the Poketch campaign, she may have just wandered off and never looked back.<p>

But the Poketch campaign did exist, and it was even stranger than Looker.

"You kids are trainers, aren't you?" the man asked, looking between them. "All trainers could use a Pokémon Watch, or Poketch, as I like to call them. And, lucky you, any trainer who can hand in three coupons today gets a free Poketch!"

The thought didn't sit well with Lucas, for reasons very different than Dawn's complete lack of concern. "You're just giving away technology to anyone who can get their hands on three coupons? Don't you know how much time and effort you've wasted on these things already?"

"Well, the new models do come out next year," the man admitted. "And we make most of our money selling apps for it."

"I don't see a problem with free stuff," Dawn cut in. "We can always sell it online."

"We can, can't we?" Lucas turned back to the man. "We'll take two."

"You need the coupons first," the man said, "and the campaign clowns only give coupons to one person in a group. If you want one for each of you, you'll have to separate."

Dawn groaned. She'd gotten lost in this city once already, the last thing she needed was more time without Lucas. But she also really wanted that Poketch.

Well, if she left the city, she could come right back in and keep looking. It wasn't as if it would be too hard to catch three different clowns, right?

* * *

><p>Lucas found her, after he'd gotten his own Poketch of course. She'd done very well, collecting two coupons, but she couldn't for the life of her find that third clown. Lucas pointed out that it was right in front of a TV station, and it didn't take her more than five minutes to find the building.<p>

"Now, listen here!" the clown said when she approached. "I ask a question about Pokémon, and a correct answer gets you your coupon."

"I know that." Dawn fanned herself with the coupons she'd already collected. "I've answered two already. Why aren't you just handing out these Poketch things for free?"

"We are," the clown told her. "You answer a question to get a coupon, and three coupons get you a Poketch."

"But the questions are so easy!" Dawn complained. "A kindergartener can get one. That's what they're teaching in the Pokémon school right now!"

The clown didn't look happy. Neither did Lucas, if his sudden facepalm was any indication. "Are you asking for a harder question, miss?"

"Maybe." Dawn was sure that listening to Barry's father for the past six years would have taught her something.

"Very well. Your new question is...what is EV training?"

Yes, Barry's father had taught her about this, after all. "EV training is a stat training method that involves finding specific Pokémon in specific locations, battling them, and defeating them. It is a long, boring process that people in our universe tend to ignore, often asking breeders to take the challenge of doing it for them."

The clown looked defeated. "I would have accepted 'a stat training method,' you know," he said, handing over the third coupon. "You didn't have to go through all that trouble."

"Hey, you said you were giving me a harder question. I just decided to go with the answer I had for it." Dawn took the coupon and turned to go. Lucas was right behind her.

"You do know that you more or less copied Palmer word for word, right?" he asked, and Dawn hid a smile behind her hand.

"My father was a breeder," she explained. "Barry's dad's a high-ranking trainer, too. It's only natural I learned something from one of them."

And then she picked up the pace, leaving him behind.


	5. Onward to Oreburgh, I Guess

**This time, it's Lucas doubting Dawn's sanity.**

Dawn handed her three coupons to the Poketch man, who offered her a choice between a pink, yellow and blue one. Dawn took the pink without a thought, and spent the next five minutes scrolling through her apps.

"My mom has the last model," she said when Lucas dared to ask. "Hers can't go backwards through her apps. I'm enjoying having something new."

Lucas looked at his own blue Poketch, and flipped through the apps himself. He didn't understand why Dawn was so fascinated, there were only four of them. He decided to change the subject before she could completely lose her mind. "Hey, didn't you promise your friend that you'd battle him just outside of town? Isn't he waiting for you?"

"Maybe." Dawn didn't seem too happy about that. "I know Barry. He's either waiting for me, or he left a note on the ground saying I took too long and he'll battle me some other time."

It wasn't Lucas's place to correct her and he knew it, but he pulled her along anyway. "It can't be that hard," he said instead. "Sure, he took the Chimchar while you got a Turtwig, but you have a shiny."

"A shiny Pokémon is no different from a regular Pokémon except in color," Dawn objected. "And experience-wise, Barry's going to lose. I'm not worried about this battle at all."

"So what are you worried about?"

"I'm not worried. I just don't know what I want to do with myself after this battle."

Lucas was surprised by this, for reasons Dawn couldn't figure out. Sure, they hadn't known each other long, but surely he knew her enough to know that she wasn't the best at planning.

"I thought you'd go after badges," he said when she asked. "Every year, at least one of the Pokedex carriers goes to take on the Pokémon League, trying to reach honorary Championship."

"Yeah, you have fun with that."

"I'm already doing this for research. The badge quest will take too much time." He smiled an annoying smile. "So, since it's not me, it has to be you."

"Does it look like I had any plans to get a badge? I didn't even have plans to get a Pokémon until about five minutes before you and the professor showed up."

"So? That doesn't mean that you can't make a decision after your journey officially starts."

Dawn thought it over. On the one hand, she was still pretty mad at her mom for kicking her out of the house. On the other hand, she was even more mad at Barry for starting this whole thing, and honorary Championship was probably what he was going for. Go home to Mom while still fuming, or crushing Barry's dreams? Decisions, decisions...

"Where's the nearest Gym?"

Lucas looked up to see that they'd made it out of Jubilife City, and saw a bouncing ball of blond hair rushing toward them. "Oreburgh City is just past Barry," he finally said. "If you beat him, we can head out there. If you can't...well, we can try a little harder."

"It's not a matter of if I can," Dawn said, her hand reaching for a ball, "but a matter of how much I care."

* * *

><p>Barry was waiting for them, of course. He charged Dawn another five million, but she swatted his hand away from her bag even though he made it clear he wasn't really going to steal from her.<p>

"I promised to forgive your debts if you beat me in battle, right?" His hand reached for a ball, and Dawn noticed that Chimchar wasn't the only Pokémon he had. What was the other?

As he released his Starly, Dawn reached for her own. They were all friends here, why not show off her luck? It's not like she wouldn't be using Starly through her whole journey, anyway.

Barry's mouth fell open at the sight, and Dawn tried her best to stop from laughing. "A _shiny_?" he mouthed, too stunned to put it into words. He quickly recovered, and pointed an accusing finger at her. "You haven't even had your Turtwig a whole day! How did you get a shiny?"

"I caught him, Barry," Dawn said, her voice giving not one hint of caring. "Lucas flipped, too. Are we going to battle or not?"

Barry instantly snapped out of it. "Oh, right, we were having a battle, weren't we? Sorry for the distraction." He straightened up and called the first move. "Starly, Quick Attack!"

Well, why not? "Starly, Quick Attack!" Dawn countered, and both Pokémon collided in the air.

And so the bird battle continued, Barry ordering his Starly to make a move, Dawn ordering the very same move from her own. Except for the ending move: Barry called for a Growl, but Dawn ordered one last Quick Attack. Barry didn't seem to care much as he switched out Starly for Chimchar. Dawn was instantly on guard, but that did nothing when Chimchar defeated her Starly with only one attack.

Well, Dawn thought as she recalled her shiny to his ball, it wasn't as if Barry's Chimchar knew any Fire-type moves.

"Chowder, come out!"

* * *

><p>Barry lost, which should have been obvious when Dawn kept ordering Withdraw to help Chowder's defenses. Chimchar's Scratch attacks hadn't done any damage, while Chowder's Tackle attacks had steadily chipped away at Chimchar's strength.<p>

With that done, and Dawn's imaginary debts forgiven, Barry announced his own plan to take on the Pokémon Gyms. "You should do it, too, Dawn. It's kind of expected of a Pokedex carrier."

"I can name a few that didn't." Not off the top of her head, of course, but she was sure she could if given enough time to go online and look them up. "If I say that I'll do the Gym challenge, will you and Lucas both drop it?"

"Maybe," Barry said immediately.

"I don't think so," Lucas said at the same time.

Dawn's eyes darted between them, and then she gave up. "On to Oreburgh City, then. How hard could it be?"

"Not very hard at all," Lucas promised. "It's the later Gym Leaders you have to look out for."

Seeing his friend's less-than-enthusiastic response, Barry cut in. "Don't be like that! Hey, I'll race you to the Pokémon League! It'll be fun!"

Dawn seriously doubted that, but he was gone before she could even look up.

"I really do think I'm going to end him someday," she said quietly, much to Lucas's alarm. "I just have to set the proper trap and figure out how."

Chowder just continued his stick-munching, and Lucas decided that as long as the Turtwig didn't care about his new trainer being a murderer, he would assume she was just making a joke. A bit of black comedy never hurt anyone.

Or so he hoped.

* * *

><p>Dawn had stopped to train her Pokémon for the upcoming Gym battles, and spent a lot of time battling trainers on the route and wandering through the tall grass in the hopes of finding other practice partners. After a while, she retreated back to Jubilife City, leaving Lucas on his own to wait for her.<p>

For the first two minutes, he stood around, whistled a little, and just watched where she disappeared. That's when he saw it: a flash of light from the corner of his eye, fading to reveal a yellow and brown Pokémon with its eyes closed. It was an Abra, and it was soon to be his.

He knew he had to be careful. One move and it would get away. Lucas prepared for battle by sending out Leonardo, but he wasn't about to order an attack. No, he had to do this quickly.

His hand reached into his bag. His Piplup scooted out of the way. The Abra made a little snoring sound, but Lucas knew that sleep meant nothing when it came to teleporting out of the way of trainers.

He threw a ball as hard as he dared, hitting the Abra in the face. It went inside and the ball shook twice, before going still with a satisfying 'ping.'

Leonardo picked up the ball and gave it to his human, making a happy little Piplup noise as Lucas petted him on the head before taking the ball.

"Looks like Dawn's luck has already started to rub off on me." He laughed, and released his new catch. "Won't she be surprised when she sees this."

For the next ten minutes, they waited in silence. That's when they realized that she'd probably gotten lost again.

**"She really does need you, doesn't she?"** Leonardo asked. Lucas just called both of them back to their balls and left for the city. They didn't hold it against him, they only wished that they could communicate better.


	6. Mine, Mine, Mine

**Coal mine, that is.**

Oreburgh Gate was more of a tunnel than a gate, with two trainers practicing for the Gym themselves waiting to ambush any unsuspecting travelers. It wasn't any trouble at all for Dawn and Lucas to beat them, and soon they found themselves in Oreburgh City.

"I like this place," Dawn said, adjusting her scarf as she looked around. "It looks harder to get lost in than Jubilife."

"Don't get too comfortable, Dawn," Lucas warned. "You still have the Gym battle coming up, remember?"

Dawn's shoulders sagged. "I was kind of hoping you'd forgotten that part."

"Did I hear you saying you're going to the Gym?" a boy asked from nowhere, looking hopeful. "I know where that is! Come on, I'll show you!"

"I think we can find it by ourselves," Dawn tried saying, but Lucas silenced her.

"Let him have his fun. It's going to take time off our search if we do."

Dawn let the remarks swim across her brain, but didn't say a word, shuffling behind the two boys all the way to the Oreburgh Gym, focused more on the ground than the destination.

She eventually walked right into Lucas, which made her assume they were there. She looked up, and saw a familiar head of blond hair.

"Huh," said the boy that had led them to the Gym. "Somebody's already here."

Barry looked up from the sign, startled by the voice, and immediately cheered up when he saw his friends. "The Gym Leader's not here," he said as a greeting. "He walked right by me, told me he wasn't taking challengers at the moment, and headed off to the coal mine." Without warning, he grabbed Dawn by the shoulders. "You two can go in after him, right?"

"We can?" Dawn wasn't too thrilled about the idea of going into a coal mine. Her mother had been a contest star before she was a mom, and the trainers themselves were expected to look presentable at all times. She'd been raised by that woman, and as a result, the thought of getting dirt on her pretty pink coat did not make her happy.

Barry didn't seem to notice her reluctance, and took her question for a statement. "That's great, Dawn! You two go in and get the Gym Leader, and I'll stay here so I can guard my spot as his first challenger after he comes back!"

"I don't think it would matter," Dawn tried to say, but it fell on deaf ears as Lucas, not yet knowing that it was probably a bad idea, took her hand and pulled her along behind him.

* * *

><p>"I'm sure Mom won't mind," Dawn told herself as she followed Lucas into the dark, dirty coal mine. "I mean, she knows Professor Rowan gave me a Pokedex, and anyway, I'm thirteen. I'm still young enough to be playing outside, I'm just old enough to do my own laundry afterwards. I'm sure the coat is washable. Right?"<p>

Guilt flooded her mind as she remembered she hadn't even told her mother she wasn't coming home after she took the Town Map to Barry. Sure, she and Johanna hadn't exactly parted on the best of terms, but this was the woman who had given birth to her and raised her alone after her father had died. She deserved to know that she would be completely alone for a while.

A loud roar diverted her attention, and she scooted closer to Lucas, grabbing onto him. She'd call her mom later.

Lucas didn't seem to appreciate being used as a human shield, and he squirmed away almost immediately. "What was that about?"

"I heard a noise," Dawn said, taking a step back in an attempt to respect his personal space. "I panicked a little."

"I thought you were a ghost," he admitted. "I don't usually believe in ghosts, but you can't be too careful."

"You don't believe in ghosts?" Dawn was already making plans, and Lucas was very aware of that.

He decided to change the topic before she could make up a story about the mine being haunted. "Hey, Pokémon live in this mine, too. Why don't we find a few and have practice battles?"

"Why?"

"Because we don't know for a fact what type specialty this guy has, that's why."

Dawn thought back to all the Pokémon she'd seen moving out of their way. "I'm pretty sure this place has nothing but Onix and Geodude. If this guy isn't a Rock-type user, I owe you money."

* * *

><p>"Oh my gosh, a giant rock!"<p>

Dawn's exclamation got nothing but a few laughs from the miners and a facepalm from Lucas. But it was the youngest-looking miner that spoke, pushing his glasses further up so he could get a better look.

"It's actually a giant lump of coal. This is a coal mine, after all." A sudden thought hit him, and he looked them up and down. "Speaking of coal mines, aren't you two worried about falling rocks? Even the Zubat swarm take precautions."

"I didn't think we needed our own hard hats," Dawn confessed. "We were just here to get the Gym Leader to come back and battle my friend and me."

"Not me," Lucas added, just to be on the safe side. "A different friend."

The red-haired man just looked toward the other coal miners, silently asking them something. One of them just gestured to the giant rock, or, the lump of coal. "We've got this, Roark," he promised. "It's not the first time your position took you away."

"Wait," Lucas said, holding up a hand. "Let me see if I understand. You're the Gym Leader that ditched his post to go play coal miner?"

Roark seemed ready to object, but decided against it. "Call me Roark the Rock," he laughed, holding out his hand. "I am indeed the Gym Leader of Oreburgh City."

"Roark the Rock," Dawn repeated, pretending it wasn't strange. "Does that mean that you use Rock-type Pokémon?"

"Yes it does." Roark turned to Lucas. "She's smarter than she looks, isn't she?"

"I figured it out halfway here," Dawn objected. "It's not like this place isn't full of Geodude and Onix. I'd be more surprised if you weren't a Rock-type user."

Lucas put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "I think he was messing with you," he told her. "A lot of Gym Leaders do that, some sort of test to see if the challenger reacts."

"I thought most of us did it because it's fun." Roark took the lead as the trio prepared to exit the mine. "This other challenger is waiting for me, right?"

"Let's see if he can handle it," Lucas said to himself, and they started on their way.

* * *

><p>Barry hadn't wanted to show Dawn what other Pokémon he had, preferring to keep it a surprise for when they battled again. She didn't really care, but whatever addition he had to Chimchar and Starly, it was clearly enough to let him sweep the Oreburgh Gym Leader's team. Barry waved his new Coal Badge in her face (the Coal Badge? Roark hadn't exactly been creative with that one, had he?) before declaring that he was off to Eterna City, where he'd be getting his next badge.<p>

There wasn't much time left before Roark noticed that the girl wasn't there. He might come looking.

"Don't be nervous," Lucas said, as Dawn took a deep, shaky breath. "They allow rematches if you don't get a badge the first time."

"But how many rematches will it take?" Dawn asked, her carefully indifferent mask cracking just a bit.

Lucas saw more than she thought she'd allowed. "You have Chowder," he reminded her. "One Grass-type can sweep the entire Rock-type Gym. Trust me."

Dawn still wasn't sure, but she stepped inside anyway. Almost immediately, a spotlight flashed onto the battlefield, where Roark waited, the lights reflecting off his glasses in a way that immediately made her worry even more. Her hand reached for Chowder's ball, mentally preparing.

Roark seemed to notice. "Welcome to the Oreburgh Gym," he said, actually sounding like he was happy to have her here instead of reciting from a script. "Is this your first battle for a badge?" Dawn nodded, unable to find words. "Then let's start. Three-on-three?"

"I only have two Pokémon," Dawn told him. "Why not one-on-one?"

Roark pulled out a ball of his own. "If that's what you want. Cranidos, let's go!"

Dawn threw out her Pokeball as hard as she could. "Chowder, time to shine!"

The Turtwig appeared on the field with the stick still in his mouth, and on Roark's side, there was suddenly a two-legged dinosaur with a very large head. Almost immediately, both Dawn and Lucas picked up their Pokedexes to scan it, but Roark took the first move, and Dawn had to put away the device to command a counter-attack.

The battle was much harder than Lucas had led her to believe, but Dawn found herself victorious with only a bit of strength left in Chowder. Perhaps it was his Overgrow ability that supercharged his Razor Leaf, but she wasn't going to question it.

"Twice in a row," Roark was saying. "I lost to two kids in a row, neither one of them having a single badge. What will my dad say?"

"Hey, Barry and I had to get a badge somehow," Dawn reminded him. "If it wasn't you, it would be someone else."

"That's true," Roark admitted, and he handed Dawn a small badge shaped vaguely like his hard hat. "You got your first badge, and you won it on your own. With it, you'll be able to earn the respect and obedience of even traded Pokémon, or traded Pokémon around Chowder's level." He looked down at the roughed-looking Turtwig, and Chowder gave him a big turtle-smile over his stick. "I hope you take care of it, and yourself."

"We'll see," Dawn laughed, as she clicked the badge case closed. She smiled at Lucas and lifted Chowder off the ground. "Well, I'm in desperate need of a Pokémon Center. Maybe Roark could come with us and give us directions to Eterna City."

Lucas and Roark instantly agreed. It wouldn't hurt to know where they were going.


	7. Space Nuts with Bad Hair

**Professor Rowan was holding off two Team Galactic grunts. The opposite player character says he/she wonders why Rowan keeps TMs around, implying he has no Pokémon with him. Professor Rowan fought off Galactic grunts with his bare hands.**

**Well, possibly, but it's so much fun to think of it that way.**

While Chowder and Cranidos were being healed, the Gym Leader was giving Dawn and Lucas directions to Eterna City. He dismissed the girl's suggestions for a possible way, which clearly annoyed her a little.

"But if Oreburgh is here," Dawn said, poking a town on her map, "and Eterna is up here," she pointed to the town directly to the north, "then why can't Lucas and I go that way?"

Roark's only response was to indicate the road between Oreburgh and Eterna. "The Cycling Road, that's why. If you kids have bicycles, you're free to go, but you don't look like you do."

"And how do you know I don't have a bicycle?" Dawn challenged, and Lucas wasted no time in answering.

"Because the usual trainer's bicycles are sold in Eterna City and we clearly don't have non-collapsible bikes," he said, and scratched Abra behind the ear as the bell signaling Chowder's perfect health went off. Dawn went up to the counter to pick him up, and when she returned, Lucas was debating with Roark to find a path that took them to Eterna City without spending money on bikes or going back through Jubilife City.

"You guys met that Looker guy, too?" Roark asked when Lucas explained why, and Dawn pressed her fingers to her forehead as if she was suffering a headache.

"He might think we decided to go along with him after all," she complained. "I don't want to be a detective. I didn't even want to be a Pokedex carrier."

"You're Pokedex carriers, too?" Roark tapped his finger on the table, clearly thinking of something important. "Pokedex carriers are usually chosen for a reason. Maybe Professor Rowan wanted you to get involved."

"He promised me we wouldn't!" Dawn complained. "Come on, Roark! Get involved for us! That's what Gym Leaders do, right?"

He didn't get to answer. His Cranidos had been fully healed, and the bell had been rung.

* * *

><p>It turned out that Barry hadn't gone straight to Eterna City, instead attempting to wait for Dawn. He didn't wait longer than what was necessary to see that she got her badge, but even seeing him once was something that surprised her.<p>

After that visit, Dawn was on guard as she and Lucas returned to the city where they met Looker, prepared for anything. Anything, that is, except what they found.

Looker was still there, of course, and he had somehow managed to forget that they had already met. They quickly cleared things up, and for the first time, Dawn noticed a strange accent surfacing at the worst times. From Kalos, maybe? She'd never encountered someone from Kalos before, so all she had to go by were movies, but it would explain his occasional forgetting words. Of course, he was part of the _international _police, so maybe it was more than one accent coming together.

Lucas noticed her wandering thoughts, and nudged her to bring her back to reality. Looker, for his part, didn't even seem to notice.

"There appears to be no one shady in Jubilife City," he said. "It is not a bad place. I must take my investigation elsewhere." He nodded toward the kids. "Enjoy your journey, my young friends."

"Bye," Dawn said shortly. Looker vanished, and the pair continued wandering into Jubilife City.

Suddenly, without warning, Dawn stopped and stared at the path leading to Floaroma Town. "No one shady, huh?"

Lucas followed her gaze, and then his hand hit his forehead with a loud smacking sound. "He is probably going to get fired," he decided. "He's been gone for five minutes and his post has already been taken over."

Still, what the kids saw wasn't something they had prepared for. Instead of a pair of black-clad robbers, or perhaps people with giant R's on their clothes, Professor Rowan was being cornered by two strange-looking people, both with silver clothing and, for some reason, blue bowl cuts. Dawn had to cover her mouth to muffle her laughter, but Lucas kept his head on right and worried about the professor.

Professor Rowan wasn't worried about anything. "I don't have a Pokémon on me at the moment," he told them. "I usually tell them to guard the lab for me when I leave to do field research."

"But we were called to be backup agents!" one of the bowl cuts growled. "What happened to the other three?"

There was silence for a total of three seconds. And then, for the first time in Dawn's memory, the professor actually laughed.

"Just because I'm old and don't carry Pokémon doesn't mean I'm incapable of defending myself or my research."

"You killed them?"

"Of course not, 'thou shalt not kill' is an important part of nearly all religions. They simply ran screaming like the cowards they are."

"We are not cowards!" the man thundered, but Rowan remained unimpressed. In fact, he caught sight of Lucas and Dawn, and called them over as if they were all safe at the lab, giving him their Pokémon to inspect.

"So, how has your Pokedex journey been coming along?"

Lucas knew the professor enough that he knew to not worry about the aliens with the bad haircuts. "We've seen a few Pokémon," he said, "but nothing too impressive yet."

Rowan made a sound that could have been either disappointment or approval, and turned to Dawn. "And what about you?"

"Um...I got the Coal Badge?" She didn't mean to make it sound like a question, but it was more difficult than she thought. Professor Rowan didn't blame her. _Who are these people?_ was pretty much his thought process when they'd first jumped him.

"These kids aren't important!" the man growled. "We were in the middle of a business deal! Give us your research!"

Rowan's expression didn't change, but he turned to face the spacemen so slowly nobody realized he was moving until he was looking right at them. "You seem to be under the impression that I make business deals," he said slowly. "I do not share my research with anyone that I haven't approved of. And frankly, neither of you is anywhere close to that level of trust."

"Don't mess with us, old man! Hand over your research, or we'll hurt your assistants!"

"I'm terrified," Rowan said sarcastically, but both Dawn and Lucas stared at him in alarm. "You still have lessons to learn that these two, despite barely being in their teens, have already learned. One, don't loiter for no good reason. Two, don't interrupt others when they are having a conversation much more important than you'll ever be. Three, I am much more intimidating without raising my voice than any yelling you can do. Four, being in a group does not make you more powerful, just able to share the half a brain at maximum that your whole team seems to possess when combined. And, number five..." Rowan took a breath, and Dawn and Lucas prepared for the outburst.

And it came: "What is with those outlandish outfits you have on?"

Not the outburst either child was expecting. They were thinking of 'respect your elders' or something like it, or perhaps a simple 'go jump off a bridge.' This was better than either could have hoped for.

"Aren't you going to comment on their awful hairstyles, too?" Dawn asked, and Rowan's anger faded briefly. He didn't smile, but it was clearly entertainment all the same.

"It's hard to tell what they are," Lucas added. "Lady Gaga fans? Space aliens?"

"We are Team Galactic!" said the one who hadn't threatened to hurt Dawn and Lucas. "We wear these uniforms to pledge our loyalty!"

Dawn looked them up and down. "Loyalty to what, bad fashion choices?"

The grunts each grabbed a ball. "Miserable traitors!" one hissed.

"We'll show you what happens when you cross Team Galactic!" the other added.

Dawn and Lucas shared a look, silently communicating. And then, in one movement, their hands reached for their own Pokémon.

"Leonardo, battle on!"

"Starly, time to shine!"

* * *

><p>Perhaps using a shiny in battle wasn't a good idea, but the longing looks given to both of the rare birds by the Team Galactic grunts were quickly wiped away by the looks of terror as Starly took down the Glameow all on his own. Leonardo, for his part, did his best on the Stunky, and was rewarded with the final cry before it fainted.<p>

"Losing to children?" one of the Galactic grunts complained. "How could we lose to children?"

"I told you, they're better than you." Rowan shifted his briefcase to his other hand, saying without words that, since they lost, they didn't even get to peek at his research.

"Don't," the other grunt said, noticing his companion was ready to punch an old man and two little kids. "Let us retreat for now. Team Galactic is benevolent to all."

And they were gone, leaving behind a cloud of dust.

"Why do I have a feeling that this won't be the only time we see them?" Dawn asked no one, and when neither Lucas nor Professor Rowan went to reassure her that the chances of meeting Team Galactic were slim, she hung her head.

Lucas put a hand on her shoulder. "Looker's after them, Dawn," he promised. "He'll probably get to them before we do."

"And even if this Looker fellow doesn't catch them," Rowan added, "they didn't strike me as very competent. Any future dealings you have with them should be easy."

"That does make me feel better," she admitted, giving him a clearly fake smile. It was true, she did feel a little better, but it wasn't nearly what she'd hoped. "You know, you're right. Come on, then, Lucas. Let's go and get the next badge, or catch new Pokémon, or whatever it is we do."

* * *

><p>There was no new Pokémon, and no new badges. Not yet.<p>

What prevented this was a big boulder in the middle of the Ravaged Path, which blocked off their attempts to get to Floaroma Town without having a Pokémon to use Rock Smash. For Dawn, this was a big deal, as she lacked a Pokémon capable of learning it that she could afford to have never forget a move. And, while she could have climbed over it, she was far too afraid that the massive cracks would cause it to break while she was on it, and if she broke a leg, she'd have to let Lucas go out on his own.

Lucas, on the other hand, cared much, much less.

"You know, if you wait here, I could go back to Jubilife and call my dad," he explained. "He's probably at the lab, and he can let me borrow a Pokémon that knows Rock Smash."

"Um, you're not authorized to use it outside of battle. I'll have to do it."

Lucas gave her an innocent smile. "So stay here," he said, as if he'd won a silent argument they hadn't had. "I'll be right back."

Dawn grumbled something that he couldn't make out, but he figured it was probably very rude. He paid it no attention, focused entirely on his mission. He returned after only half an hour, a Geodude rolling beside him.

"It's the best he could do," he explained. He nodded down at the living boulder. "Do what she says, and you'll be back home at the lab before you know it."

The Geodude pushed himself up, and walked on his hands until he faced the broken stone, turning to Dawn expectantly.

Oh, right. Dawn pulled out her badge case, showing off her Coal Badge in case the Move Police were watching, and ordered, "Use Rock Smash!"

The Geodude didn't waste a moment, pushing himself off of the ground and into the air, before his fists both glowed brightly and struck the rock in the precise point where it was weakest. He caught himself in a roll, clearing the rubble from their path.

"Good boy," Lucas said, calling the borrowed Geodude back into the ball his father had caught it in. He turned to Dawn, that annoying, too-innocent smile back. "Well?"

"The journey still isn't looking up."

But Lucas suspected that she was starting to enjoy herself, if only a little. It wouldn't be the first time he'd witnessed a trainer start out reluctant before changing their minds. It would only be a matter of time before she opened herself up, if not to him, then to Chowder and Starly.

Maybe Professor Rowan hadn't been completely insane to choose her. Lucas would have to apologize to him later.


	8. More Space Nuts with Bad Hair

**The chapter title says it all.**

They could smell Floaroma Town before they could see it, and knew at once where the town's name came from. Cars were clearly not allowed in the town, and as a result the flowers spilled onto the walking roads. Lucas thought to himself that he and Dawn would be smelling like flowers for days, but Dawn knew that that assumption was completely in the wrong. They'd only be smelling like Floaroma Town for a few hours, at most.

Chowder, Starly and Leonardo enjoyed the flowers that bloomed on almost every square foot of the town, crushing or picking the ones that grew too close to the road. Abra, on the other hand, was released from his ball only to fall asleep in the field, so Lucas called him back.

"We'll play more once you're a Kadabra," he decided. "It can't be too far off, can it?"

But Dawn had more important things on her mind. "That's the flower shop," she announced unnecessarily. "My mom told me about this place. Apparently, they trade Contest props for berries. I want to check it out."

Lucas wasn't sure about that. "Dawn, we don't have any berries."

"So? What's stopping us from looking around?"

And, before Lucas could stop her, she ran into the building. On the upside, they each got a Leppa Berry, and the customers didn't need to buy accessories with berries, it was just an option to children starting out. So, Lucas had to admit that it wasn't a bad place at all.

It was just a very boring one.

* * *

><p>They'd expected to camp out just past the Valley Windworks that night and tackle Eterna Forest in the morning. They'd planned on Dawn getting her second badge early, then grabbing a pair of bicycles and going down Cycling Road before heading over to Hearthome City, which was apparently the closest location with a Gym.<p>

Of course, plans had a funny way of coming undone in the worst possible ways, at the worst possible times.

"Are you two trainers?" a little girl had asked, so innocently it could only be answered with the truth. That truth had been immediately followed by "Can you get my papa back from the space people?"

"Space people?" Dawn asked, and turned to Lucas with the slightest bit of worry cracking through her carefully emotionless face. "It couldn't be Team Galactic, could it?"

"Maybe." Lucas looked down at the girl. "Did these space people have really ugly haircuts? Blue, mostly?"

"And wearing a lot of silver?" Dawn asked.

The little girl nodded. "You've seen them before?"

"Once," Dawn said, adjusting her bag as the reality set in. "Have you gone to the Floaroma Town police yet?"

"There's only four people on the whole force, Papa says."

"It is a really small town," Lucas admitted. "You go find those four people and tell them what's going on. Dawn and I will handle the space people guarding your papa."

"But Papa said trainers are better than police!"

"Police may not be as good as professional trainers, but they're still important. You don't have to worry about getting run over in Floaroma Town, so take the road, it's faster."

"I never volunteered for this!" Dawn protested, but Lucas gave her a stern look that she imagined he'd learned from Professor Rowan.

"Team Galactic has her father," he said bluntly. "Don't you want her to see him again?"

Dawn tried to say no, but she had a feeling that Lucas wouldn't believe her even if she did. She wouldn't have believed herself. She knew what losing a father at a young age was like, even though she couldn't remember the event. "Let's do this," she sighed. "We'll get her dad free, and then we'll leave those morons to blast off or whatever it is they do without us."

"That's just what I was waiting to hear." Lucas tossed out a ball. "Leonardo, battle on!"

The girl didn't look impressed with the fact that a Piplup was chosen to help save her papa, but she didn't voice it. She was smarter than that.

* * *

><p>Leonardo found his opponent right outside the Valley Windworks building. A Team Galactic grunt had been standing guard, and, upon losing to Lucas, locked himself in the building and made faces at them through the window. Leonardo made faces right back, as well as a few flipper gestures that were probably supposed to be rude.<p>

"So what now?" Dawn asked, putting all her weight on the door as if it would open for her. "We can't save the girl's dad from out here."

Lucas looked around, hoping to find something to use as a battering ram, but what he found instead was much better. A memory of what the grunt had said...only other Team Galactic grunts had the keys to the Windworks. It couldn't have been that easy, could it?

"Dawn," he said, and she looked up from attempting to pick the lock. "What if we didn't need to ruin your hair pins for this? We just need to find more grunts."

"Lucas, please. It couldn't possibly be that easy."

As she said it, she realized that it was very likely that easy, and Lucas giving her that look didn't make her feel any less stupid. She hid her face in both her hands.

Lucas heard her muffled voice nearly thirty seconds later. "So where do you think we can find them?"

Lucas responded by taking her by the hand and leading her away, right to the meadow located right behind Floaroma Town, following the path of squished flowers. It should have been obvious to anybody, and Dawn felt all the more stupid for not even noticing Floaroma Meadow when studying the map. She brushed the natural embarrassment aside, knowing that it was only her and Lucas against this army of insanity. She didn't know if the town police would be helpful at all, since Looker was already on the case...and not doing well, but she'd give him a few more chances.

"Hand over that honey," a grunt was saying, as he and his partner cornered a normal-looking man. "Team Galactic demands it!"

"What the heck is Team Galactic?" the normal man demanded. "You look like you're just a bunch of space freaks with stupid haircuts."

Though accurate, the words seemed somehow _wrong _to both Dawn and Lucas, but the Galactic grunts didn't give them enough time to dwell on it. The man had pointed them out, begging them to help him, and the two grunts had cornered them.

"What should we do with them?" one grunt asked.

"They're witnesses," the other grunt said, his hand reaching for a ball. "We can't have witnesses. We'll just make sure these brats keep their mouths closed...by overpowering them in battle."

Well, it wasn't the weirdest thing to be decided by battle, even in Dawn's lifetime. Giovanni had shut down Team Rocket in Kanto because he lost a battle to Red, after all.

"Abra, battle on!" Lucas called. As Abra popped out of his ball, Dawn could only hope that he was using the 'switch out' technique.

She suddenly didn't care. "Time to shine, Starly!"

* * *

><p>If you'd asked Dawn a mere four days ago if she'd ever imagined herself pinning somebody to the ground, she would have laughed loudly and said it was way too much work. Now, she found herself sitting on a grunt's back, both her legs pressing against one arm, his other arm gripped behind her back as he and his friends refused to hand over the key despite being defeated in battle. The grunt was making wild grabs for her hair, but she managed to keep a decent amount of control over the arm.<p>

Lucas, who had the other grunt in a headlock with Leonardo sitting on the guy's back, suddenly let go, the Piplup jumping off. He and his captive both dove for something, and Dawn rolled off of her own grunt to take a look.

Lucas felt his hand close around the dropped item, and the grunt hopelessly scratched said hand an attempt to force him to let go. Leonardo took the object, a key, in his beak before running off into town.

"Get that Piplup!" the grunt cried, scrambling to his feet and nearly kicking Lucas in the head. "He's got the key to the Valley Windworks!"

And they chased after him. The rest of the group all stared after them, before the man cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry for the loss of your Piplup, young man," he started, but Lucas didn't even flinch.

"Leonardo bonded with me back at Professor Rowan's lab," he said. "He's really good at hide and seek, they won't find him."

"Then I take it back, and hope you find him soon." The man reached into a bag and pulled out two jars of honey. "They wanted this, and I assume you two would find much more use for it. It can attract Pokémon such as Combee or Munchlax..."

"No offense," Dawn cut in, "but we really need to get to the Valley Windworks. Those Team Galactic guys took over there, and we have to reunite a little girl with her father."

The man didn't waste a second before kicking them out of the meadow to complete their mission. Leonardo was waiting for them in the trees at the edge of town, the key still in his beak.

"You didn't run for long, did you?" Lucas asked as his starter dropped the key into his palm. The Piplup shook his head. "And they ran right past your hiding place, never even looking in the trees." Leonardo nodded again, and his trainer laughed. "You're a criminal genius."

Leonardo shrugged. **"I watch TV, Lucas. It wasn't that hard to imitate."**

Dawn stuffed her hands in her pockets, watching them joke around. "Weren't we on a mission, guys?" she asked, and Lucas and Leonardo instantly dropped their happiness. "Come on, then. The sooner we chase Team Galactic out of the Valley Windworks, the sooner I can get the honorary Championship and go home to drain all this madness from my head."

* * *

><p>When Dawn and Lucas had unlocked the door, the grunt had panicked and alerted the commander to their arrival. Team Galactic may have tried to look threatening, but Dawn knew she and Lucas could handle a few extra grunts. They'd even stopped at the local Mart to pick up some extra Super Potions on the way. Then, after fighting off the army with only four Pokémon between them, out came the redhead with the slightly less stupid hairdo.<p>

"You dare meddle in the affairs of Team Galactic?" the redhead cried dramatically. "Haven't your parents ever warned you about stranger danger?"

Dawn didn't even flinch as she looked her in the eye. "My mom also told me that clowns were here to make people laugh, but I don't think you're that funny."

The woman looked like there was nothing she would like more than pouncing on the girl and physically ripping out her eyes, but she stopped herself from going that far. "How cute," she spat, as if there was nothing cute about it. "It actually thinks it's funny."

Dawn grinned maliciously. "You think I'm cute," she mocked, and the redhead grabbed her by the scarf.

"You think this is amusing?" she snapped, and Dawn shrugged. "Clearly, you don't know who you're dealing with. I am Mars, one of Team Galactic's three..."

"Four," an old man said from behind her, but he didn't take his eyes off of the scientist they were holding captive.

"Four commanders," Mars corrected herself, rolling her eyes slightly. "We're here to take what we can and dispose of the rest. And you, little girl, are _very _disposable."

"Well, Mars, I beg to differ." Dawn wrenched her scarf free and reached for a red and white ball. "Let's settle this with a battle. If I win, you release every last one of your hostages and get your team as far away from Valley Windworks as humanly possible, relocating to Kalos if you can." Looker could find them there, she imagined. His accent did sound vaguely Kalosian.

"And if I win?" Mars asked, with clearly faked disinterest.

"I'll surrender my Riolu." Dawn didn't hesitate, though the very idea made her nervous. She didn't have a Riolu, of course, but she knew she had to be convincing. She kept her empty Pokeballs with her full ones, so why not bluff a little?

She didn't know if that high-pitched "Eeh?" was from Lucas or one of the Pokémon, but Mars threw back her head and laughed.

"It's a deal, then," she said, and reached for a ball of her own. "I'll open with Zubat!"

"It's all yours, Starly!"

The battle was a bit too intense for Lucas to watch. Though Starly had no problem with the Zubat, the Purugly was the opposite. A few Quick Attacks did manage to hit, but Purugly took Starly out in just a few attacks.

Dawn wasn't out yet, though. Chowder was slow, but he was sturdy, and after strengthening his defenses a bit with Withdraw, and using more than one Super Potion, he stood triumphant while Purugly lay twitching on the ground.

Mars called back her Purugly, looking thoughtful. "I messed that one up," she said to herself. "But I enjoyed that battle. Perhaps you're not as weak as I thought." She smiled, but it wasn't friendly. "Team Galactic could use people like you."

"I don't look good in bowl cuts," Dawn retaliated. "_No one_ looks good in bright blue bowl cuts."

"A simple no would have been fine." Mars looked over her shoulder at the old man, who merely nodded and released the scientist. "We'll end our stay here, but don't think we're relocating to Kalos. For the good of the world, I recommend you stay out of our business from now on."

"We're finished here, anyway," the old man added. "There's no more information to be gathered here."

And, without so much as a goodbye, they turned and left. Lucas wasted no time on telling off his companion.

"What were you thinking, Dawn?" he demanded. "You don't use Pokémon as bartering chips! What would Professor Rowan say?"

"I had nothing to lose." She smiled innocently. "I never caught a Riolu, remember? And I counted on you to step in for me if I needed it. I may not praise you for it, Lucas, but I do have confidence in your battle skills."

Lucas opened and closed his mouth, trying to find words and failing. Phrases such as "It was still stupid!" came to mind, but so did "You have confidence in my battle skills?"

In the end, he didn't get to say any of it. The little girl from before chose that moment to run in, jumping at the scientist and hugging him tightly. The man returned the hug, apologizing that he'd been forced to work non-stop, and then...

"You're stinky, Papa! Go shower now!"


	9. Wrath of the Forest Gods

**QUOTE FROM THE EDITOR: "The forest gods are a running joke in this series. It was even a reason for plot in One-Hit KO. Why not a chapter title?"**

Since their plans had been put on hold, Dawn and Lucas ended up staying the night in a hotel, though they couldn't manage to get into the cheaper one on the top floor of the Pokémon Center. They also couldn't afford get different rooms, so naturally, Lucas let Dawn have the bed while he took the couch.

It didn't hurt his decision-making process that Dawn had thrown her coat into one corner, flopped down in the middle of the bed, and was out in seconds, but he liked to think that he was being polite. It wouldn't be sexist if he was doing something nice, right?

While Lucas made himself comfortable under a blanket made of their own coats, Dawn started dreaming. It wasn't a bad dream, but it was unusual. Lucas was eating an entire cake by himself, refusing to share, when that man she'd seen by Lake Verity decided that he was going to steal it. He didn't eat it, but he did throw it down a gigantic hole, where a pair of red eyes watched them all. The eyes turned out to belong to Barry, but his blond hair was styled into a bowl cut and he wore silver pants.

Dawn's eyes opened to red numbers shining brightly from the clock into an otherwise dark room, and to a shadowy lump on the couch mumbling "Don't eat all the science, Professor" in his sleep.

* * *

><p>They stopped by Valley Windworks again, to check on the scientist they'd saved from Team Galactic. His daughter stood beside him, refusing to let him leave again, and they got the whole story from her.<p>

"The police couldn't get into the building," the little girl said. "The door got locked and even the Machamp couldn't break it down. They tried, I saw them try. But then the balloon Pokémon led them away to the bridge, and they said they got two people dressed up like space aliens."

Well, two out of seven wasn't _that _bad. Until the scientist added, "Then they had to let them go, because they weren't doing anything except loitering, and they spoke with a funny accent and claimed to be foreign."

"From Kalos?" Dawn suggested, thinking of Looker.

"No," the scientist said. "The female officer said she hadn't heard it before."

"Maybe they _were _space aliens," the girl added.

"I wouldn't doubt it," Dawn said, but Lucas had something else in mind.

"The balloon Pokémon?" he repeated. "What balloon Pokémon?"

"We get visits from a Drifloon on Fridays," the scientist explained. "It's developed a fondness for my daughter, so she wants to have it when she asks Professor Rowan for a Pokedex."

Dawn's father had kept enough journals in his breeding career, and according to him, there was a reason that the urban legends about Drifloon attempting to carry children away started. He had been a fan of ghost stories, writing some of his own in his spare journals and some child-friendly ones he'd used as bedtime stories for his own daughter, and more than a few involved Drifloon as both heroes and villains. To this day she was wary about the species as a whole, despite the journals saying that they couldn't lift children off the ground and Johanna reminding her that she was too old now, anyway.

The scientist probably knew the rumors. If he trusted the Drifloon, so would she.

"Going on a Pokedex adventure sounds cool!" the little girl was saying to Lucas, and Dawn turned back to the conversation to distract herself. "I want to be just like you and Dawn!"

Dawn reached into her bag and pulled out a small handheld device. "You're too young for a journey," she said, "but how would you like to have my Pokedex?"

"Dawn, no!" Lucas yanked the device from his friend's hands. "I'll put in a word for her with the professor, and maybe she can have one when she's ready. This is _yours_, and you don't want the professor to get angry."

"It was worth a shot, wasn't it?" Dawn put the Pokedex back in her bag, noticing the girl's disappointed face. "Trust me, you're not ready for this. You stay here with your papa, and in a few years, if you still want a Pokedex instead of just a Pokémon, we'll talk again."

The girl looked back at Lucas hopefully. "And you'll really tell the professor about me?"

"The next time I see him," Lucas promised. "In the meantime, tell the balloon Pokémon to keep this place safe from more aliens."

* * *

><p>"Lucas! I'm hungry!"<p>

On the upside, our heroes had made it to Eterna Forest. On the downside, Dawn hadn't stopped complaining since she realized she'd skipped breakfast. It wasn't looking up, for her or for Lucas.

"Dawn," Lucas said through his teeth. "We can eat when we get to Eterna City. We don't need to turn back here."

Dawn slumped down, arms folding stubbornly. "And what if I leave you to explore on your own?"

"Then you'll have to find your own way to Eterna City, won't you?"

There was suddenly a snapping sound, as if someone had stepped on a twig, and then a young woman and a Chansey stepped into view.

"The entrance again?" the woman complained, and then she groaned, facepalming hard. "I thought I could avoid the trainers here! Double battles, my butt..."

"Are you ok?" Lucas asked, and the woman immediately switched to attention. "Did the trainers here hurt you?"

"No, we're fine," the woman explained quickly. "They just refuse to let me pass without having a double battle, and I only have one Pokémon on me." She indicated the Chansey that had followed her. "Tag teams are all over the place."

"What." This was the second time in three days that Dawn found herself unable to turn a simple 'what' into a question. That was once more than she'd ever imagined. "Don't any of these people have lives?"

"That's what I asked them," the woman said, laughing a little. "Maybe that's why they didn't let me through."

Dawn pulled Lucas aside, into an awkward two-person huddle. "Are you for leaving her here so she learns to apologize, or are we going to have to do The Right Thing again and take her through ourselves?"

Lucas heard the capital letters in her voice, and made up his mind at once: "While I'm all for having her learn her lesson, it'll be much faster if we challenge them to rotation battles instead."

"But rotation battles are only legal in Unova, for a good reason. They're _hard_."

"Which is exactly why I think that will get us through with minimal effort," Lucas said, with an evil grin much like the one Dawn herself was so fond of. "Come on, Dawn, they're not _illegal_ in Sinnoh, just not practiced often. It should be fun."

"But aren't triple and rotation battles supposed to be for only two trainers with three or more Pokémon?"

"What are the odds that everyone here knows that?"

Perhaps he was more fun than she'd imagined. Breaking out of the conference, she turned to look at the woman and the Chansey. "How good are you at rotation battles?"

"Not good at all," the woman said instantly. "Why do you ask?"

"Because we're your new partners," Lucas finished. "I'm Lucas, she's Dawn, and we're going to get through this as a group."

The woman laughed. "I'm Cheryl, and I'm grateful."

* * *

><p>Dawn had to admit, maybe Lucas did have a brain in that squishy head of his. Only one person dared to take the challenge, a mere Bug Catcher, and thanks to a combination of Starly's Wing Attack, Leonardo's Peck, and Chansey's Egg Bomb, not one of his Pokémon stood a chance. It was almost entertaining, watching how their potential opponents squirmed at the thought of a rotation battle, but it got them through most of the forest unhurt. Then came the Old Chateau.<p>

"They say this house is haunted," said Dawn, staring at the abandoned house as if she had nothing better to do with her time. She was absolutely fascinated, that much was obvious. "Rumor has it that if you walk into a bedroom you'll see a little girl who disappears when you take a second look, and that sometimes there's an old man in the dining room that seems to be waiting for someone. Do you know why the ghosts are here?"

"No, I can't say I do," Cheryl said, smiling a little. "Do you?"

She'd hit the right button, it seemed. Dawn jumped right into her ghost story, just as Lucas had expected. "Once upon a time, a rich family lived here. A mother, a father, a sister and a brother, living with a grandma and a butler. They were all happy with their lives, until one day the little boy angered the forest gods. The forest gods retaliated by wiping out every trace of life from that house, dooming them all. They ate the souls of the nonbelievers, wrapped in their spleens like soul burritos, while those with faith were left permanently trapped in the house, unable to move on or be reincarnated. To this day, the spirits of the little girl and her butler haunt the Old Chateau, as a warning to visitors to not bother the forest gods, for it may be the last thing you ever do."

"Forest _what?_ That is not what happened!" Lucas objected. "First of all, the forest gods don't exist, and whether or not the girl and the old man are actually ghosts or just Gastly playing tricks on travelers is debatable. Second, supposing that they are real ghosts, how did the kid end up angering these so-called forest gods so much that they killed his entire family and the faithful servant instead of just taking him off to wherever they live?"

"He looked like you," Dawn snapped. "It's a ghost story, Lucas, it's supposed to be scary. Accuracy has nothing to do with it."

"And for it to be scary, it has to be believable, so some accuracy is necessary."

"You tell what happened, then!"

"Fine!" Lucas tightened his scarf before starting. "The father was a businessman, and he invited a competitor over for a friendly meal. The competitor poisoned the meatloaf, the butler saw him do it, the butler got run through with a knife. The little girl taste-tested it and died, the killer was an idiot and ate the meatloaf himself, the rest of the family grieved but moved on with their lives."

Dawn and Cheryl both stared at him. And then Dawn snapped again.

"That was an awful story!"

"Why? It was believable, wasn't it?"

Cheryl didn't know whether to back away slowly or simply leave. "Well, aren't you two shaping up to be a cute little battle couple," she said nervously, and Dawn and Lucas stopped mid-argument. The silence that fell passed 'awkward' and ended firmly in 'Cheryl is never going to be spoken to again.'

"I didn't know hunger-based arguing was concrete proof that we were Meant To Be," Dawn said eventually, her tone much softer than before.

"Neither did I." Lucas held out his hand. "I'd rather just be friends, for now at least. Why don't we promise to go easy on each other unless there's something we _really _disagree on?"

"Just friends," Dawn repeated, and grasped his hand. "No more pointless fighting."

And so, Dawn, Lucas and Cheryl left in peace, not noticing the face of the tiny Rotom watching them from the window of the abandoned house.


	10. Kicking Grass

**The chapter title alone rates this story PG.**

They left Eterna Forest in somewhat better moods, and Dawn immediately decided that she was going to look up the type specialty of the Gym Leader. Eterna City was just one stop on the road, and she was determined to not fall so far behind Barry that another picture was in the Hall of Fame between them.

"This won't take long," she promised Lucas, and wandered into the city.

The first person she saw was a Team Galactic grunt, loitering outside the Pokémon Center. Interrogating him proved nothing, as he simply explained that he wasn't here on business, he was here on vacation. They didn't believe him, but they had nothing to prove otherwise. Innocent until proven guilty, after all.

The second person they met was a very helpful young man who told them that the Gym Leader specialized in Grass-types. Lucas barely restrained himself from laughing at Dawn's expression, a strange variation of "give me a punching bag, I want to hurt something."

"Really, Dawn," he choked out, "we had to cross through a forest to get here. How did you not notice that?"

"How did you not point it out?" Dawn shot back. "Really, Lucas, you probably didn't know at all."

"I didn't know," he admitted, "but I suspected it was either Grass or Bug, and that's close enough, right?"

"And why didn't you voice your suspicions?"

"Because I didn't want to look stupid if I was wrong," he said immediately. When she still looked ready to hit something, he grabbed her wrist. "Calm down, Dawn. It's not the end of the world. Let's get something to eat, you've been complaining about it all day."

* * *

><p>After Dawn, Lucas and the Pokémon had stopped for food, Dawn returned to the short route between Eterna Forest and Eterna City. She and Lucas both released their Pokémon, and at the moment, Dawn was explaining the situation to Chowder and Starly. Lucas realized, to some embarrassment, that out of the four Pokémon between them, not one had evolved.<p>

"Grass-types are something we have very little experience with," Dawn was saying as she paced in front of her Pokémon. "Which means, Starly, that it really is your time to shine. You have the type advantage, but you need the strength to back it up."

Starly puffed out his chest. **"I can do it already,"** he bragged, spreading his right wing as if to show off muscle that wasn't there. **"There's no need to worry."**

"My point," Dawn said, remaining unaware of the meaning behind his bird sounds, "is that we need to train more. Chowder, too, but you most of all."

Chowder dropped his chewing stick to speak for himself. **"I am a Grass-type!"** he protested. **"I shouldn't have to fight my own kind!"**

**"You're just lazy,"** Starly snapped, hitting the turtle with his outstretched wing.

**"Which is probably why Dawn was drawn to me in the first place," **Chowder retaliated. **"Haven't you noticed that she's only on this journey in the first place because Lucas is dragging her?"**

**"She's doing it on her own." **Starly flew up to Dawn and perched on her bag.** "She hasn't ditched Lucas and gone home yet, has she?"**

Chowder hated to admit it, but the bird had a point. Dawn would probably keep going until she'd defeated Barry for the last time, and then she'd end up going back to Rowan's lab and returning her Pokedex.

Dawn took Starly's action for one of enthusiasm. "All right, boys," she said, pointing at a patch of tall grass. "Do the thing!"

* * *

><p>When Starly evolved into Staravia, Dawn decided that it was enough training for her first match with the Eterna Gym Leader and returned to town, Lucas and his Pokémon behind her. The Gym Leader, Gardenia, was a friendly woman who confirmed that Barry was there, describing him as an "annoyingly speedy young guy." Barry was probably long gone by now.<p>

Finding Gardenia after she'd retreated into the building looked like it was going to take a while.

"A giant clock," Dawn said once she recognized what she and Lucas were walking on. "What does a giant clock have to do with grass?"

"Maybe because it has flowers growing underneath it?" Lucas suggested as he dropped off of the clock hand he was walking on. "It's not even a real clock, it doesn't even tell time."

"So what use does it have?"

Lucas shoved the huge green plank into position. "As a puzzle for trainers, I guess."

Dawn hopped back on the planks, and walked right past Lucas, holding her arms out for balance. "Come on, then, Slowpoke," she said, wobbling just a bit. "The badge has to be won sometime."

Gardenia was waiting for them, standing by an open window with a ball in hand. "You made it here in a hurry," she laughed. "Did you skip my warm-up trainers, too?"

"Were they supposed to be necessary?" Dawn asked, looking behind her. "You're not _that_ strong, are you?"

"For a trainer with only one badge? Not really." Gardenia looked between the two. "You are the Pokedex carriers that Roark told me about, right?"

"Yes, we are," Lucas admitted before Dawn could open her mouth. "She's the one here to challenge you."

"Yes, Roark told me that," Gardenia said, not sounding insulting at all. "So, Dawn, how many Pokémon do you have?"

"Um...still two," Dawn admitted. "Maybe we can do one-on-one?"

"This is your second badge," Gardenia reminded her. "Two against two. Both of your Pokémon against my Turtwig and Roserade."

"A double battle?"

"I was thinking more like a traditional one."

Well, the Gym Leader called the shots in her own territory. Dawn reached for her first ball. "Chowder, time to shine!"

* * *

><p>Gardenia used a Turtwig of her own to go against Dawn's, and they ended up nearly in a draw. Chowder was still standing while the other Turtwig went down, and Dawn gave him a Super Potion when Gardenia sent out Roserade. He did his best, but Roserade managed to succeed. Dawn, unwilling to lose without a fight, unleashed her secret weapon, which immediately sent Gardenia into super-competitive mode.<p>

"Roserade, use Grass Knot!"

"Wing Attack!" Dawn countered. Staravia jumped into the air, avoiding the Grass Knot, and jumped at Roserade with his wings posed for maximum damage.

Gardenia didn't let the hit get her down. "Magical Leaf!"

Staravia flew right into the shield of brightly-colored leaves, landing his Wing Attack but taking damage for it. He looked over at Dawn, silently asking if he should use another Wing Attack, and she seemed to understand as she pointed back to the opposing Pokémon. He jumped back into the air and circled around Roserade like a Mandibuzz circling her prey, before dropping without warning and smacking Roserade across the face with a wing.

"Try to knock it out of the air with Poison Sting!" Gardenia instructed, and Dawn saw her opportunity.

"Use Wing Attack until one of you is down!"

Another Wing Attack hit, but he took a close-range Poison Sting in exchange. He shook it off, fluffed his tail feathers, and returned to the sky, hurt but not suffering from poison.

"Magical Leaf!" Gardenia commanded, but it came too late. Staravia was already dive-bombing, and by the time Roserade summoned her fourth leaf, he had struck.

Gardenia handed Dawn the Forest Badge soon after, and Dawn placed it right next to her Coal Badge. Three green tents, or treetops, or whatever they were, shining brightly next to the slightly dingy badge from Roark.

"I wonder if this protects me from the forest gods," Dawn wondered.

"Maybe it marks you as a target," Lucas said innocently. Dawn pretended to hit him with her badge case.

"I thought we agreed we wouldn't argue anymore," she reminded him. "It makes people think we're in love for some reason."

Lucas laughed. "We didn't say anything about making jokes at each other's expense!"

Dawn pretended to hit him again, but in her mind, she was already observing him, noting weak spots. If he wanted to play this game, then she'd just play along with him.


End file.
